British Airways has promised compensation after fights reportedly broke out on a faulty plane flying from Saudi Arabia.

The Boeing 747 had to return to Riyadh twice because of a recurring wing flap problem, causing "mayhem" on board, according to passenger Dean Jones who told the online Daily Mail: "Fights broke out and the military turned up."

He was quoted as saying that on the first return to Riyadh on Wednesday "there was screaming and crying and we hit the runway with a massive bang".

When the wing flap problem recurred, forcing the plane to return to Riyadh again, Jones said: "This time people were even more frightened. Women were crying. People were being sick."

After landing, around 70 passengers refused to leave and called for an official to explain what was happening, he added.

A BA spokesman was quoted as saying: "We apologise to customers for their experience, and we sent a replacement aircraft to fly them to the UK.

"Our customer service teams are contacting customers directly to offer compensation, expenses and complimentary tickets as a gesture of goodwill.

"The safety of our customers and crew is always our first concern and due to a technical problem, the decision was taken to return the aircraft to Riyadh.

"Our crew and customer service teams did everything they could to care for customers, and we provided overnight hotel accommodation."